Investors have been increasing their bets that the
opposition may win this year's presidential elections, defeating
a government they accuse of intervening excessively in the
economy.

The real , which had posted a sharp loss on
Thursday on global geopolitical fears, rallied 1 percent to
2.2344 per dollar. It had closed the previous session weaker
than 2.25 per dollar for the first time since the beginning of
June.

Brazil's benchmark Bovespa index jumped nearly 3
percent as shares of Petróleo Brasileiro SA gained
almost 5 percent. The financial performance of Petrobras, as the
state-run oil company is known, has sharply deteriorated under a
government policy that forces it to subsidize fuels in the
domestic market.

The latest Datafolha poll released Thursday night showed
Rousseff with 44 percent of voter support and Neves with 40
percent in a possible second-round vote, within the survey's
margin of error.

Rousseff still leads the race in the first round scheduled
for Oct. 5 with 36 percent of support, down from 38 percent in
the previous poll. Neves has 20 percent of support, unchanged
from the previous survey.
(Additional reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Jeffrey
Benkoe and Lisa Von Ahn)